


Better than Espresso

by reachan



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Coffee is life, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-21
Updated: 2017-02-24
Packaged: 2018-09-01 07:45:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8615563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reachan/pseuds/reachan
Summary: Shiro and Keith ended up being partners in a coffee shop called Altea.What could go wrong?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to @lordzuuko for proof reading this for me!! (Well you did kinda request for this to be written too ohoho)

"This looks promising."

Shiro was standing outside a coffee shop with a signage that said “Altea” in a cute flowery cursive from right at the top of the door. He ran past an ad a couple of weeks ago that said this new coffee shop was hiring a barista, so he grabbed the opportunity and now he was here.

It was Shiro's first day and for some reason, he was really nervous to go inside. It wasn’t his first job. He worked at different cafés -- both big and small -- for the past three years, so this should be a piece of cake. _Right?_ After what happened at his last job, Shiro didn’t know anymore. He opened the door of the shop and the sound from the wind chimes alerted everyone that he was there.

Another guy, maybe a year or so younger than him, was carrying a sack of coffee beans from behind the bar. The guy put down the sack before he faced Shiro with a warm smile. “Sorry, Sir, but we don’t open in an hour. I’m afraid you’ll need to come back ‘til then.” He looked around a bit and then added, “Well, depends on what you’re ordering, maybe I can whip it up quickly for you.” He laughed ever so lightly and scratched his head while waiting on Shiro to give an answer.

That warm smile was enough to get Shiro flustered. _Who is this guy and why is he so damn charming?_ Shiro tried his best not to get tongue tied with the situation. “Oh, but I’m not a customer. I’m the new barista.”

“I beg your pardon?”

Shiro might have answered wrong because the warm and smiling guy--who just offered to make him a cup of coffee even though their shop was not yet open--disappeared in an instant. What was in front of him now was the same guy but with a whole different competitive aura with brows stitched together eyeing him cautiously. Shiro was hesitant but took a step closer to the bar to introduce himself.

“My name’s Shiro. I’m the new barista.” Shiro said while extending his right hand.

The other guy looked at him as if memorizing every wrinkle he had on his face, then to his hand. Reluctantly, he agreed to shake his hands.

“My name is Keith.” Keith took on a defensive stance with his hands crossed over his chest. “I still don’t understand any of this. I didn’t know we were hiring.”

“Oh, I was interviewed a week ago. I... Is something wrong with me working here?”

“What? No! It’s just...” Shiro’s question caught Keith by surprise. He didn’t quite understand what was wrong, but Shiro smirked because he was enjoying looking at all of Keith’s expressions.

“What are you smirking at, pretty boy?” Keith leaned by the bar and close to Shiro trying to challenge him.

“Oh, so I’m pretty? Thank you for the compliment, Keith.” Shiro smirked again while leaning closer to Keith now.

“What is with all the flirting so early in the morning!”

A girl wearing black jeans and a green short sleeved polo suddenly appeared from the kitchen door. She was holding some daisies and looking irritated at what was happening. Shiro stood straight, blushing a little bit and looked at the girl who just shouted. “You’re Pidge, right?”

“Hey, new dude! Do you start today?” Pidge walked closer to Shiro to shake his hand but then she remembered she had her hands full with all the flowers. Shiro patted her head which made her smile.

“I do.”

“His name is Shiro. Not ‘ _new dude_ ,’ Pidge.” Keith butted in. Shiro blushed a bit on Keith’s effort to correct his name. “Am I the only one who didn’t know we were hiring another barista? Why the hell do we even need another barista! I can do this solo!”

“No one told you, Keith, ‘cause we all knew you’d be like _this!_ ” Pidge stuck out her tongue at Keith.

Normally, under circumstances like these, other people would feel uncomfortable and be running out the door, but Shiro was feeling pretty relaxed with what was happening. His new workmates seemed to be fun people to be around. The kitchen door opened again, and now a woman with long white hair came out rolling a tray of cookies, cupcakes, and brownies. She was wearing a long skirt and an oversized pink sweatshirt. When she saw Shiro, she beamed and shook his hand. “You’re here! I’m so happy!”

“Thank you again for hiring me at the last minute, Allura.” 

“Oh, come on now, Shiro. You were more than qualified for the position. Of course, I would hire you!”

Shiro and Allura exchanged warm smiles but they felt an angry gaze fall on both of them.

Keith spoke in a very deep voice. “Care to explain what’s happening, Allura?”

“Oh, Keith!” Allura pretended to only notice Keith’s menacing looks just now. “I see you’ve met Shiro, your new partner behind the bar!”

“Partner?!” Shiro and Keith blurted out the same time. They looked at each other and blushed.

Pidge seemed to be the only one enjoying the moment as she giggled her way out of the situation to place in the daisies into the table vases.

“I can explain more later!” Allura clapped her hands twice which meant everyone needed to start working before the shop opened. “Keith, I trust that you’d take care of Shiro and show him the ropes. His uniform is all ready in the locker room.”

Keith groaned his frustration out, but followed his orders anyway. “Fine, fine.”

Shiro followed Keith to the kitchen door, that he then realized lead to a hallway with four more different rooms. Keith nonchalantly gave him a quick tour. The first door on their right had a sign that said _‘Allura’s Office.’_ They continued walking and the next door on their left was the kitchen where there were two guys--one was prepping up pasta and the other one was busy cleaning some pots.

Keith knocked on the door that made both guys stop. “Okay guys, I’m not sure if you were aware ‘cause I hell was not, but we have a new guy starting today. His name is Shiro.” Keith touched Shiro’s shoulder to get him to introduce himself but he was only able to say was “Mmm, smells so yummy.”

The guy preparing the pasta dough laughed. “Thank you! We’re just finishing the prep so nothing is really ready yet. I’m Hunk, by the way, I’m the cook. I’d shake your hand but...” Hunk raised both of his hands to show that they were covered with flour. The other guy who was washing pots went to where they were, while drying off his hands with a towel tied on his belt. He held out his hand, “Nice to meet you, Shiro. I’m Lance. Hunk’s boyfriend.”

Shiro froze with what he heard. Keith was laughing his ass off.

“Lance! You surprised him!” Hunk was blushing even though he was covered with flour all over his face.

“It's better that he knows this now rather than later! I read somewhere that people tend to like other people with the food they serve! I don’t want anyone hitting up on you!” Lance crossed his hands over his chest in a very proud manner. Hunk couldn’t help but blush while kneading the pasta dough. “Look at you, big guy! You have flour all over your face again!” Lance took out a clean towel from one of the drawers and cleaned Hunk’s face with it.

Shiro smiled at the couple. “It’s nice to know that the food here is made with love then.” He was surprised to see that both of them were red from his comment.

Keith was still catching his breath from all the laughing that he did when he ushered Shiro to get going. “Hunk, don’t forget to write today’s special, ‘kay?”

Hunk was only able to do a muffled _“yes”_ because Lance was too focused on getting him cleaned.. They were now on the third door to their right and Keith stopped to face Shiro.

“Okay, this is the locker room. The last door there is a spare room for emergencies.” Keith pointed to the door at the end of the hallway. There was no label hanging in front of it.

“What kind of emergency?”

“I dunno, really.” Keith opened the door and flicked on the lights. It was pretty normal. Shiro wasn’t sure what he expected to see.

 

“Okay, so Allura said your uniform is here somewhere… let’s see.” Keith was rummaging through a pile of boxes beside the lockers. Shiro tried to look around too but he didn’t want to touch anything he wasn’t supposed to.

“Found it!” Keith found a box at the bottom of the pile that had a label _‘New Uniform - Shiro’_ written on it. He picked it up and placed it on the table.

Shiro opened up the box and got his uniform out.

Keith looked at his watch and cursed. “We need to hurry. I’m still not done prepping.” Keith moved to his locker and opened it. He then took off his shirt and started to put it inside.

Shiro was just looking at Keith. _Damn._ For some reason, Shiro was glued to where he was and more importantly, he couldn’t take his eyes off topless Keith. That’s when Keith turned around and saw him staring. _This is bad._ Shiro had no excuse!

Keith was just looking at him, then said, “You can use this locker beside mine. It’s free.”

“Uhm, thanks,” was all Shiro could say.

He bowed his head while he opened the locker next to Keith and started undressing. Now, the locker room wasn’t really _that_ spacious, so two guys stripping side by side would make anyone hot.That was what Shiro wanted to think as an explanation to why he was feeling that way at the moment. He could feel Keith looking at him but he didn’t want to face him because that would just make things more awkward than it already was. He tried his best to dress as quickly as he could. When he finished buttoning his shirt he saw that Keith was also almost done, too.

The uniform was pretty basic. He kept the black jeans he was wearing earlier. The top was a black polo shirt with a tie that had a golden v in the middle. It wasn’t fancy or trying too hard, and for that, Shiro liked it. He saw that Keith was wearing a red polo shirt instead. Keith looked like he was having a hard time getting his tie done correctly. Shiro had a feeling this happened every single day before work started. He was going to offer a hand when Keith finally got it right.

Keith looked up to him when he was done. “You… you look good.” Keith said very quietly, he barely heard it.

“Uhm, thanks.” Shiro scratched his head and smiled at Keith.

There was something about him that just made Shiro feel warm even with his cold demeanor. He wanted to get to know Keith more. He kind of got the idea that Keith was cautious… no more of what felt like competitiveness against him being the new barista and all.

 

They were now back at the bar and Keith had been explaining to him where he could find the usual stuff--where the coffee beans were stored, where they kept the milk, what their specials were. Keith was pretty good at it, too. Shiro realized how passionate Keith was seeing him like this.

“Okay, so did you get all that? If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask. This is our base and we need to protect it at all cost!”

“I think I have everything covered. I’ll do my best to meet your expectations.” Shiro winked at Keith. He loved playing around with him. Even with the competitive aura, at the end of the day, they were partners assigned to create the best coffee for their customers. Shiro had a feeling that working with Keith would be a breeze.

“You better.” Keith smirked at him then he turned to Pidge. “We’re all good.”

“Okay, let’s do this.” Pidge turned the sign on the door to show open. She then went outside to place the specials board in front. She saw a couple walking past and stroke a conversation with them. After a minute or so, they walked inside and Pidge showed them to a table by the window. She gave them the menu but before she left the table, it looked Shiro had his first order of the day on the ticket. Pidge smiled to the couple and walked to the bar.

“How did she do that?” Shiro looked at Keith who was now waiting on Pidge.

“Magic, maybe. She has this thing when she talks to people and gets to believe whatever she says and soon, they do what she wants. It’s like, if she wanted, she could make people believe she was a boy. That’s how good she is.” Keith explained.

Pidge must have heard they were talking about her because she chimed in. “Such is my prowess, Shiro. And now, it’s time for you guys to shine.” Pidge got the ticket and placed the coffee orders of the couple then showed it to the baristas. “Two lattes.”

“Coming right up.” Keith smiled and looked at Shiro. “You wanna do the first one?”

Shiro felt this was a test. _And by the gods, I will pass this._ Shiro liked the challenge though. Especially since it was coming from Keith. He wanted to reach Keith’s standards. If he was good enough, _and I definitely was,_ he’d probably get Keith to look at him in a different way.

Shiro started on the espresso and then steamed the milk. Keith was just leaning at the back observing like a teacher waiting for his student to screw up. Shiro was pretty confident with his skills. When he worked for a while for this big shot cafe a couple years back, he made sure to make the best out of it. He learned from the best, and he’d make sure not to disappoint his mentors. He looked at Keith and motioned him to come closer. _I don’t want you to miss this._ He grabbed the steamed milk and poured it on the cup with the espresso. He gently mixed, then started on shaking the milk while pouring it making lines into the cup. He finished on one swoop. He placed the coffee at the bar for Keith and Pidge to see.

“Woah!!! That... How.. Amazing!!” Pidge barely made sense. She got so excited she started jumping up and down. “I gotta tell Allura.”

“Hey now, you still have customers.” Keith said while still eyeing the cup Shiro just did. It was a perfect rippled rosetta latte art. “Not bad.”

“Is that a compliment?” Shiro played with him again. Seriously, he couldn’t stop himself. And he got the reaction he wanted. Keith blushed again but just for a quick moment. He was able to get a grip on himself. “Do you want me to make the other cup, too?”

Keith still gave that competitive vibe, but he was surely not looking down on Shiro anymore. Shiro showed him what he could do and he could feel the respect Keith had for him.

“No, I’ll make the second cup.” Keith now grabbed the steamed the milk and mixed it with the espresso. With almost the same movements he did, Keith was able to do a rippled rosetta on the second cup. He placed it next to Shiro’s cup. It was an exact copy.

“Holy!!!! You never really disappoint, Keith!” Pidge got more excited now.

She breathed in and out twice to calm herself down. She grabbed a tray and placed the identical cups to serve to their first customers. When Pidge placed the cups on their table, the woman gasped with amazement. She took out her phone and took a couple of photos. She even asked Pidge to take a photo of her and her boyfriend with the cups. Pidge chatted to them a bit more and tried to help them pick meals from the menu.

Keith then faced Shiro and all he could do was gape at Keith. _He’s amazing!_ He could see that Keith was blushing again, but he could also guess that was because of the stupid face he was making now. A rippled rosetta art was no joke to pull off, and both of them did it perfectly.

“Stop staring already.” Keith hid his face with his hand.

“But.. you’re amazing!”

“Shut up! You did the exact same thing too. You’re pretty good, too.”

“This must have been what Allura meant by us becoming partners.” Shiro smiled and held Keith’s hand that was still covering his face. He put it down but didn’t let go. “We could do something really incredible here, don’t you see?”

“I realized that--”

“Well, it’s a good thing both of you realized your potential as a tandem before I could explain. Saves me the hassle of proving how right I am.” Allura came in to join the conversation with a proud look on her face.

“You planned all this?” Keith asked, not even trying to hide the doubt in his voice.

“Let me just say that I do not let myself pass an opportunity when I see one!” Allura smiled. She pulled out a flyer off her pocket and showed it to both of them. Shiro took it and read aloud, “Be the best coffee shop in town. Have your resident baristas join this coffee tournament.”

“A tournament?” Keith was still sounding a bit skeptical.

“Yes, Keith. A tournament! Winning it would really help the shop get more customers in!” Allura beamed at him. “It said a shop needed two baristas to qualify, hence, Shiro came.”

Shiro couldn’t deny that this caught him by surprise. It was a bit too much for a first day orientation. Still, he felt really pumped up to work with Keith. There was just something about him that made Shiro so interested and drew him closer. He looked at the flyer again. “It says here that the competition is in three months.”

“Yes, just enough time for us to prepare.” Allura confirmed.

“And by us, you mean Shiro and I.” Keith corrected.

“I really want to work with you on this one, Keith.” Shiro blurted out without thinking. Allura and Keith were staring at him. Shiro didn’t care anymore. Shiro hadn’t felt this excited in his life since he did his first ever latte. “What do you say?”

“Wow! I love the determination, Shiro! Come on now, Keith? Won’t you partner up with him?” Allura tried to convince her employee.

Shiro hoped it would work. If not, his last chance would be to get Pidge to convince Keith.

“I never said I wouldn’t do it, you know.” Keith finally spoke.

Shiro couldn’t help but sigh with relief. He hugged Keith then let go as quickly as it happened. Allura giggled and Keith was blushing. He apologized to Keith and scratched his head with a silly smile on his face. “I’m a hugger.”

“That’s okay. Anyway, Allura, you need to give us more details about that tournament before the day ends. I won’t do a half-ass job on this.” Keith sounded determined now and that just made Shiro more excited.

“Of course! I will start the preparations now. You two get back to work and focus for the meantime. Leave everything to me.” Allura left them with a wink.

Just then, another group of customers came in. Pidge was right on time to greet them and showed them to a table. Honestly, Shiro still couldn’t believe how she worked.

As he waited for Pidge to get to them for the order, he faced Keith.

“What’s up?” Keith asked. 

“I was just wondering why you offered to make a cup of coffee for me earlier, even though the shop was still closed.” 

“I… I was trying to do customer service!” Shiro felt this was just an excuse. “Don’t think too much about it!” Keith continued to explain but it only made Shiro grin more.

“Whatever you say, Keith.” He leaned close to Keith then continued, “I’m still going to keep you on your offer though. I’ll wait for that cup of coffee from you.”

Keith now chuckled on the play of challenge. “Don’t feel too special. We’re baristas. If you keep thinking all the cups I make are for you, what would we serve the customers?”

  
“I’m pretty sure we can manage. Right, partner?” Shiro was smiling. He was loving this. He can already see that working in Altea would be so much fun since Keith was around.

* * *

 


	2. Chapter 2

Keith could not believe that he was now working the bar with someone. Never did he think that he would let this go so easily. Keith had always been a one-man team ever since he started his career as a barista. There was no one who was at par to his level.  _ A partner would just slow me down. _ Never in a million years, did he think that he would get a partner and an eye-candy to boot! It was too much for him to handle. 

When he first saw Shiro came into the shop, he thought he was a customer.  _ I even sort of flirted with him! Oh my god! What is wrong with me?! _ The close proximity they shared for the past week had been pure torture for Keith. Five days working with Shiro, Keith felt like he would just about pass out the next time he “accidentally” touched Shiro’s hand.  _ Keep calm, my frail little heart. _

It was already late in the afternoon and the cafe was still full of customers with half full cups of coffee on each table. Somehow, word got out of the latte art that Keith and Shiro did. Keith was feeling super proud of himself for being the reason that people came into the shop. Even Allura was praising him which was a miracle in itself already! 

_ Maybe having a partner ain’t so bad after all. _

Keith was deep in thought on how they can up their game while polishing endlessly a spoon, when Shiro crept from behind and tickled him on his sides. Keith jumped and tossed the spoon to god knows where and tried his best to get out Shiro’s grasps. Unfortunately for him, Shiro was stronger. He kept his hands locked on Keith’s hips and did not stop. Keith had to force every inch of energy he had left from stopping himself rolling on the floor and grabbed Shiro’s hands and did a quick maneuver so that he was now facing Shiro -- his hands tightly caught on Keith’s grasp. He was in tears from all the tickling and was breathing hard. Shiro was also laughing from his small success of the day. 

_ How the hell does the universe think he could get pissed off with this man? _

“Dude! Do not do that!”

Shiro was still laughing and his hands still caught on Keith’s grasp. “Sorry, but you weren’t answering when I called you.”

“So you tickled me??” Keith sighed and held both of Shiro hands with one as he motioned to do a facepalm. Shiro did not let the moment pass and went for a front attack but Keith was quick to respond and went back to cuff Shiro’s hands with both hands. 

“Stop it, Shiro!” Keith glared at Shiro but he couldn’t keep a straight face with the very playful smile in front of him. They kept a staring contest for over three minutes. They were giggling like school girls but they were both competitive enough to not give in to the other.

Pidge went over to the bar to bring some empty cups over when she saw what the two baristas were doing. She did a big sigh and rolled her eyes. “Ugh, why don’t they just kiss already?!” 

Pidge went inside the bar with a smirk on her face. She made a kneeling position right when she was behind Shiro. Luckily for her, Shiro was big enough to hide her from Keith’s vision (or more probably his attention was totally somewhere else to even notice her). Shiro felt the sudden loss of balance and lurched forward to a now confused Keith. Keith, on the other hand, was too focused from the staring contest so he did not have any time at all to react.

Keith reached for the bar top behind him to keep himself from falling. Shiro was literally on top of him. He could feel Shiro’s heavy breathing on his chest and he knew that a second longer, his knees were going to give. He patted Shiro’s back and let his hand linger for a bit, “Shiro.” Shiro looked up and met Keith’s gaze. “You’re heavy.” He saw Shiro blush as he fumbled to get his balance again. Keith felt kinda sad to not feel Shiro so close to him anymore. That was when they both heard Pidge’s giggles from behind. He scowled at her knowing full well that she had her fun with both of them.

“Oh, give me a break, Keith!” Pidge protested while she wiped the tears from her eyes from all the laughing she did. “Both of you were practically begging for it with all your shenanigans back here.”

“We-we weren’t! Shut up!” Keith looked at Shiro who was still blushing. Keith wanted to change the subject already because he didn’t want to make feel Shiro uncomfortable about this.

“Well, whatever. That was a good break for me.” Pidge breathed in and out, then straightened her uniform and went back to tend to the remaining customers for the day. Keith looked over to Shiro again who was now re-tying his apron.

“You okay?”

“Yeah. Nobody does that move anymore so I was really surprised.” Shiro scratched his head with a shy smile on. “Sorry, if I was heavy.”

“You shouldn’t let that get to you. Pidge is weird that way sometimes.”

“Haha, sure. Uhm, should we start cleaning up now?” Shiro looked over the cafe and there were just a few tables with customers now and they were all finishing up their coffees. “Today hasn’t been busy like yesterday.”

“You’re right. But I was actually thinking of testing out a couple of new latte art tonight. I already asked Allura and she let me stay late here.”

“What?!”

“Why?” Keith was confused as to why Shiro was so surprised.

“Why didn’t you tell me about this?” Shiro’s eyebrows met with confusion as he intently looked at Keith for an answer.

Keith didn’t really give it much thought when he decided this so it was a bit hard to answer Shiro’s question. He was used to just doing what he wants without letting anyone know. “Well, I thought you had other plans tonight with someone or something.”  _ Keith Kogane, you are treading on dangerous grounds here. It is too late to back out now. You need to prepare yourself. _ Keith went to polish another spoon from the stack while waiting for an answer.

Keith could see how Shiro was now more confused. Shiro cocked his head to the side like a little puppy. “What do you mean? What plan could I possibly have? Like a date? I haven’t had a date in years!”

“Woah. Sorry, dude.” Keith tried to sound apologetic but he just can’t help but be happy with the news.

“Now why didn’t you tell me you were going to practice tonight? We’re partners!” Shiro shook Keith hard to get some sense into him.

“Okay! Okay! Calm down, man!” Keith was swinging the spoon like a white flag. “Do you want to stay back tonight?”

Shiro released Keith and smiled widely. “Yes.” Just then, Hunk called Shiro to the kitchen to help out for a moment.

 

 

Keith was left at the bar just standing and still trying to take in what happened.  _ Shiro and I will be alone here tonight. Oh. My. God. _ Keith slapped his cheeks so loud the last batch of customers who were about to leave looked over to see what happened. He sat down out of embarrassment.  _ Stop it now! You’re acting like a high school student!  _ He needed to get his thoughts straight -- at least before Shiro came back from the kitchen.  
  
  


Keith was sitting in one of the cafe’s table doodling on a notebook. He was now out of his uniform. He was wearing a striped brown sweater and gray jeans with red slip-ons. He was too engrossed with his doodles when he felt some presence behind him. He looked over and was surprised to see Allura. “Oh god, Allura! Do not creep up on people like that! You can give someone a heart attack!” Keith clutched his chest trying to calm his heart down.

Allura laughed from the reaction. “You have always been jumpy. I didn’t even have to try!”

“Well, whatever. Did you need something?”

“I just came over to remind you not to forget to check all the locks tonight. And here’s a spare key to the extra room at the back if you need to stay in.”

Keith grabbed the key from Allura. “I don’t really think I’d be needing this. I live pretty near.”

“Still, I know how you are when you start to get in the zone and I’d rather you be safe than walking in the dark.”

“Fine. Fine. Thanks. I’ll triple check the locks later.” Keith waved his hands in surrender from Allura’s motherly nagging. Allura looked like she wanted to say more but decided not to. She smiled and waved goodbye to Keith.

Keith looked at his doodles and felt dissatisfied. He took out his phone and searched a few bookmarked pegs he had. He finished doodling a few just when Shiro came over. He put his phone back inside his pocket and stood up.

“Sorry, I took so long. Let’s do this!” Shiro was beaming with excitement.

“Why are you so excited? We’re just making coffee.”

“Just because.” Shiro led the way to the bar and started steaming the milk. “Do you have any new ideas aside from the now famous rosetta art we do?”

Keith looked over his notebook and whispered, “A few.. But I don’t know…”

“What was that?” Shiro waited for him to show his doodles. So he went over to the bar and placed his little notebook on the counter. Shiro just finished steaming the milk and quickly had a look at one of his doodles. “Hmmm…” Shiro rubbed his chin. He studied the first doodle on top then got a cup of espresso. He poured on the milk ever so lightly. Shiro carefully poured a perfect circle and then a smaller one by the side. He lightly added another layer of milk across the big circle and then got a stirrer and dipped it into the milk. With one swoosh, he was able to make Saturn’s rings. Keith could see how much concentration Shiro was putting into this and somehow that made his heart swell.

The design wasn’t too hard but it was definitely something new from the usual rosetta and tulip art they do. The doodle was of the planet Saturn and one of its moons, Titan. It was an old doodle Keith did, but never really pushed through with it. He faced the cup to Keith.

Keith just blinked at him. He didn’t exactly know where to begin.  _ How can this person be so amazing? _ With just a look, he was able to visualize a way to draw it on the coffee. He looked over the cup and still felt like something was missing though. He gestured for Shiro to give him the stirrer he used. He lightly dipped it over the milk and in a few quick motions, Keith drew stars to complete the coffee art.

“Hey hey, that’s a nice touch!” Shiro leaned over and smiled.

“That looks better now, yeah?” Keith looked up to him for some sort of affirmation. He trusted Shiro’s judgment ever since he saw how talented he was.

Shiro was looking at him intently and with a smile, answered, “Yeap. Looks beautiful.”

Keith blushed like he never blushed before.  _ Curse his smooth words!  _ “Okay, so we’ve got that one down. Let’s focus on some other ones.”

“Yessir!” Shiro beamed. “You have a lot of good ideas here, actually. So far, we have the perfect rosetta, the usual heart art, and the swan. Do we want to go crazy on this or do twists on the classic ones?”

“I was thinking a bit both. We can be playful on this as much as we want to be but we need to keep it clean.” Keith added. “I don’t want us to be some sloppy class B baristas that go overboard!”

They worked their way on a couple of Keith’s drawings. Shiro also drew some of his ideas on Keith’s notebook. Before they realized, there were about up to a dozen and so coffee cups surrounding them and Shiro was holding the coffee cup number nineteen.

“Whoops.”

Keith blinked his surprise away and gulped down his nervousness. “What are we going to do with all these coffee?” He looked at Shiro and somehow read his mind. “Don’t say it.”

“What else are we going to do? We can’t let these go to waste.”

“We can’t drink this much caffeine! I know we make good coffee but seriously, Shiro. I… can’t.”

Shiro lifted his arms in surrender. “I know.. I know.. Let me think… There’s a hospital just a couple of blocks away from here, right?

Keith’s brows were crossed. “Are you thinking of just running there in case we over-caffeinate ourselves finishing these?”

“No, silly.” Shiro did a hearty laugh and ruffled Keith’s hair. “I’m saying we can place these in take-away cups and give it to the nurses there doing the night shift.

Keith tried to fix his hair while looking at Shiro intently.  _ Not a bad idea.  _ “Oh. Okay, then. Well, how about we start cleaning up and lock the cafe so we can give these away.”

“Yes, sir.” Shiro winked at him and happily went back to the storage to get the take-away cups.

They both worked fast and efficiently. Mainly, because they didn’t want the coffee to get cold when they hand it out. While Shiro poured the coffee on the take-away cups, Keith washed the cups they used. They had such good teamwork they were done in less than 10 minutes. Keith went to the back and made sure to triple check the locks. They both got out through the front door each holding two bags full of coffee.

 

Shiro lead the way to the hospital. It was a quiet walk. The night air was cold and Keith’s sweater didn't really help that much. Keith looked at Shiro who seemed oblivious to the cold. He was wearing a black leather jacket on top of his usual black muscle shirt. Keith just kept staring at his back while walking and he didn’t realize that they were already there.

He bumped into Shiro’s back. “Hey, you alright there, buddy?” Shiro looked at him with so much concern.

“Uhh, yeah. Just tired, I guess.”

“I bet. We both had a long day.” Shiro smiled at him _.  _ “We’ll just drop these off by the emergency desk then I’ll walk you home.”

“Huh?” Keith was going to say more but Shiro was already on his way inside the hospital.  _ Did I hear him right? _

He had no other choice but to follow. When he got inside, Shiro was already talking to the lady on duty who was smiling so widely.  _ I can’t blame her. It’s hard not to give that man a smile. Plus he’s giving free coffee. Win-win!  _ Shiro looked back at him as he was introducing Keith to the nurse. He learned that the lady behind the desk was the head nurse and she gladly accepted all the coffee they had brought with them. Keith was glad they didn’t have to drink all that.

“Thank you so much for accepting them.” Shiro said as they were about to leave the hospital.

“Hush, young man! I should be thanking you for giving these to us.” The head nurse gave both of them a warm smile.

Keith was so tired he barely made conversation to the head nurse. He couldn’t even muster up a smile back to the nice lady. What he did notice though, was the flirtatious giggling of some younger nurses who carried the coffee to the nurse’s lounge as Shiro handed over the bags. Keith couldn’t help but get irritated by this. He said bye to the nurse and told Shiro he’d wait for him outside. He didn’t want to see any more flirting.

When he got outside, he took a big breath of fresh air as if he just escaped the clutches of an evil army. He looked at his watch and it just passed quarter to twelve. He rubbed his eyes to stay awake. His place wasn’t that far from here. He reckoned it would take him about 20 - 30 minutes to get home. He let out a big sigh to release some stress when he felt a hand over his shoulder. He looked back and saw Shiro.

“You done with those, girlies?” Keith snapped at him.

“Girlies? Really?” Shiro sounded amused. “What’s with the attitude? If I didn’t know better, I would think that you were jealous.” Shiro teased him and placed an arm around him.

“Don’t get too over yourself. Why would I be jealous?” Keith tried to move away from Shiro but it was warm and nice.

Shiro laughed and hugged him tighter. “Don’t worry. I’m all yours, partner!”

All Keith could do was bow his head down so Shiro won’t see how much he was blushing.

“So, which way is your apartment?”

Keith looked up to him. “I can walk there on my own. It’s fine.”

“Nope, not gonna happen. Besides, you’re cold. You need a human blanket.”

Keith was at a loss for words. All this time, Shiro noticed him. Since Shiro was walking in front of him all this time, he thought he just wanted to go home as quickly as possible. When did he realize that he was cold? Keith knew he was shivering but he tried not to make it obvious. Keith felt so cozy in his arms he no longer fought back. He pointed to the direction back to the cafe. 

“Good boy.” Shiro smiled and hugged him closer as they walked back.

 

 

It was a silent walk to Keith’s place. He wanted to strike up a conversation but that proved to be difficult. Having Shiro with him behind the bar counter was easier than having him nearby outside the cafe. Somehow all his senses were on high alert. He could feel everything Shiro did.  _ Stay calm.  _ When they got in front of his building, he blurted out something that could either be the best or the worst idea of his life.

“Do you want to come inside for coffee?”

Shiro blinked and then laughed. Keith felt so hurt.  _ If he didn’t want to come up, he could have just said no and go. He didn’t have to laugh so hard!  _ “Fine, then don’t!”

“I’m sorry. I’ll go up. It was just funny to me.” For the first time, Shiro let go of Keith and walked in front of him then stopped. “We were stuck in  _ Altea _ making coffee and then we come here to your place for coffee, too?”

Keith realized how stupid his offer was now that Shiro pointed it out.

Shiro wasn’t making fun of him though. He knew that. He could feel it. Keith looked at Shiro who was now facing him, “Come on, Keith. Lead the way.”

Keith blushed and muttered, “Stop being stupid and just go up.” 

Keith led the way to the stairs. It was a two-storey building and his apartment was on the second floor. The building itself wasn’t new, but it wasn’t that old either. They got to the second floor and walked to the left. His apartment was at the end of the hallway. He glanced over Shiro who was just looking around as if observing if any hoodlums were going to attack them. 

Just as he was about to open his door, he remembered he didn’t clean up that much when he left for work this morning. He looked at Shiro who was beside him and waiting for the door to open. “Fair warning, I think I didn’t clean up that much earlier today. So don’t judge!”

Shiro put up his right hand, “I swear.”

They got inside and Keith turned on the lights. He lived in a simple one bedroom apartment. Inside was pretty normal except for the two large bookshelves he had that took up the space of the living room. It was full of different assortments of books and albums.

Shiro removed his leather jacket and placed it on the sofa.

“Make yourself at home. Uhm, here’s the remote if you want to watch TV.”

Shiro ignored the remote and made his way to the shelves. Keith left him there as he went to the kitchen. When he was sure he was all alone, he let out a big deep breath.  _ Shiro is at my place right now. We are all alone. Damn, what do I do?! _

He tried to shake off his nerves and proceeded to make coffee. When he was all done he placed two cups in a tray and went back to the living room. He tried his best not to spill anything but that proved to be difficult because he was shaking like crazy.  _ Stop it! You’re acting like a teenager! _

When he got to the living room, he almost dropped the tray. There was Shiro lying on the sofa, sound asleep with a book on his chest. It was Rick Riordan’s  _ The Lost Hero _ . 

Keith let his shoulders slumped as he placed the tray on the table. He grabbed a blanket from his bedroom and removed the book to cover up Shiro. Then he sat on the floor, his head near Shiro’s. He opened the book but his eyes were so tired he couldn’t focus on a single word. 

He looked at the wall clock and saw that it was almost 1 am.  _ No wonder he’s fast asleep. _ Keith felt his own exhaustion right there and then. He leaned back his head on the sofa and turned sideways. To his surprise, Shiro’s face was there to meet him. Even while asleep, he made Keith’s heart beat faster than any espresso could ever do. Keith reached out to gently touch Shiro’s cheek. It was warm just like his hug on their way here. Keith couldn’t help but smile.  _ Why are you so darn cute, Shiro? _

Keith glanced at Shiro and unconsciously traced over his lower lips. There he was, leaning closely over Shiro, intently gazing at his lips.  _ They’re so kissable… Makes me want to kiss him… Wait, what?  _ Keith stopped tracing over Shiro’s lips and sat up straight. He was trying to process what he just thinking. _What do I mean I want to kiss him? That's..._ Then it hit him. Weird as it may be, he was falling for Shiro. He let his hand fall to his side and just stared at the man in front of him. Was that even possible? He’s only known Shiro for over a week! He barely knew the guy too. Keith never liked anyone of the opposite sex but also he has never liked any guy before. All he knows is the guy in front of him is the first person who has ever made him feel this way. This explains so much as to why he always felt Shiro's presence in the room.

“Fell for my partner, huh.” He leaned closer to Shiro's face and just looked at it. He wanted to memorize each line. He didn't dare to go any further. After a few seconds, his eyes gave up and closed and he was then fast asleep.

  
  


 

Keith woke to a phone alarm he didn’t recognize but he didn’t want to open his eyes yet. He groaned out of frustration. He felt pain on his neck and back.  _ Must have slept in a funny position again. _ He tried to get comfortable when his hand slapped a cheek and heard someone say ‘Ow’. 

He opened his eyes and saw Shiro staring at him with a smirk on even though he just got slapped. 

“Morning, sunshine.” Shiro pushed his bangs away so he could see him better.

He suddenly felt all his blood leave his head as he stood up abruptly. “I.. Sorry! I fell asleep.”

Shiro sat up straight, running his fingers through his hair. He yawned and rubbed his eyes. “Why are you apologizing? I’m the one who slept over without asking.” He laughed shyly.

There was a silence between them as Keith remembered what happened last night and that included his sudden realization of his feelings. He blushed.

“Hey Keith, can I borrow your bathroom? There’s not much time left till work starts. Can I take a quick shower here?”   
  
Keith was still at a loss of words and flustered from last night. All he could do was nod and point where the bathroom was.

“Thank you.” Shiro smiled and stood up. “And don’t worry about breakfast, okay? I’ll take care of it.”

That morning was a strange blur for Keith. He still hasn’t gotten over the morning events and here he was walking to work with Shiro who was smiling like he was the happiest man on Earth right now. Shiro made them both breakfast while it was his turn to take a shower. They just had enough time to brisk walk to _ Altea _ and not get nagged by Allura.

 

When they both entered the cafe, Hunk and Lance were setting up the brownies and cupcakes they baked. They stopped and looked at both Shiro and him, then they smirked. Lance started the teasing. “Shiro, ain’t that the same clothes you were wearing yesterday?” He raised both eyebrows and snickered at both of them.

“Yes, they are, Lance.” Shiro said calmly.

Keith was amazed at how calmly Shiro was taking all this. It was his turn to be teased.

“And Keith, you look dead tired! Did you stay up too late?” Lance was obviously enjoying this. Hunk on the other hand was trying to tug on his shirt signalling him to stop.

Keith wished that Lance would listen to Hunk because he honestly did not know how to handle this. Normally, he could think of a comeback as fast as lightning, but this was all too new for him.

“Well, we both did stay up too late last night. I still feel so tired.” Shiro added.

“Ohhh hohohoho, what did you guys do?” Lance beamed at this.

Keith was getting too flustered. “Oh shut up, Lance!” He pushed him aside and went to the back of the bar and started grinding coffee beans.

Lance was surprised by the hostility but did not back down. “Oh come on, Keith. I was just asking what you were up to late at night.” He turned back to Shiro who was just standing there with a poker face on. The happy smile he was wearing was now gone. “Did you stay over at Keith’s place last night?”

“Yes, I did. But it’s nothing like what you’re thinking.” Shiro smiled and added, “I don’t swing that way.”

Keith looked at Shiro with such a pained expression, he thought he was going to cry. But he stopped himself. He felt his heart crushed into pieces. How can something that hadn’t even started yet, end and hurt him like this? He left the beans he was grinding and proceeded to the locker room without a word to anyone.

* * *

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I only updated now! It has been too busy at work :(  
> And sorry, for leaving the chapter like this!! I needed to do this!


	3. Chapter 3

“Oh, come on, Keith! I was just asking what you were up to late at night.” Lance turned to Shiro who was just standing there with a poker face on.

Shiro was on the hot seat and he did not like it one bit. He kept a poker face but deep inside, he wanted the earth to open and eat up Lance so that the universe can be at peace again. _Seriously, this guy did not know when to shut up!_ Just this morning, Shiro woke up to Keith’s handsome face beside him. How could his fate do a complete 180 on him in such a short amount of time?

He and Keith stayed in the cafe til late last night practicing their latte art. Shiro had the best time of his life! There he was making coffee with the guy he liked and everything was just perfect. They gave the coffee to the nurses at the nearby hospital, and he ended up sleeping over at Keith’s place.

“Did you stay over at Keith’s place last night?” Lance pressed on.

Shiro looked at Keith who walked behind the bar. Shiro felt bad seeing Keith like this. He looked very frustrated and just wanted to get away from the issue. Maybe he was just thinking that Keith was having a good time with him. Maybe all this time, Keith was uncomfortable with him and he was just too nice not to say anything.

_Damn it!_

Shiro felt so stupid. No wonder Keith was acting all weird this morning. He may have gone overboard with his feelings. He didn’t even stop to think if it was mutual or not. Hell, Keith hadn’t even known him for that long! He must have thought of him as a creepy coworker who didn’t know anything about personal space. He needed to fix this or else Keith might hate him forever.

“Yes, I did. But it’s nothing like what you’re thinking.” Shiro smiled then added, “I don’t swing that way.” Just as he said it, he absolutely regretted it. It was just for a moment but he saw Keith’s pained expression. It tore his chest open and ate out his heart. He wanted to run to Keith and take back what he said, but he couldn’t because Keith already ran to the back.

“What’s gotten into him?” Lance asked, “Stomach ache?”

Shiro felt that Lance was the type of guy who couldn’t absolutely read an awkward situation even if it hit him straight in the face. He looked at Lance with a _‘This is all your fault’_ look but of course, he couldn’t place all the blame on Lance.

Hunk gave Shiro an apologetic smile and faced Lance. “Babe, I love you but you really can be so dumb sometimes.”

“What?” Lance gasped with a scandalized look on his face.

“Nothing. Come on, we need to finish prep back in the kitchen.” Hunk grabbed his boyfriend’s hand and dragged him to the kitchen.

 

They left Shiro to his thoughts. He was still a bit dumbfounded with what happened.

_What the hell did I just do? Did I just make things worse? I need to make this right. Why did I have to say something like that? “I don’t swing that way??” What the freaking hell, Takashi Shirogane?! You are as gay as hell!_

Shiro went into the back while practicing a speech in his head to deliver to Keith. He found the guy inside the locker room already changed into the cafe uniform and ready to head out. Keith didn’t even look at him in the eye and just strutted out.

Shiro felt his heart shatter in pieces. How could he apologize if Keith wouldn’t even look at him? He went and sat on the couch in the middle of the room and tried to think of a plan. One thing was for sure, he wouldn’t let this day end like this.

  
  


Two and a half weeks had passed, Shiro still hadn’t had a decent conversation with Keith. Who knew that guy could slid his way out of Shiro’s reach this well? Out of the 50 attempts (yes, Shiro had been counting) that he did, he was only successful of cornering him once, and Keith just shrugged him off with an ‘ _It’s all ok_ ’ response. This whole thing had just been hell for Shiro. Aside from the cold shoulder Keith had been giving him, work had not been going well.

Behind the bar, Keith would talk to him only if necessary and it greatly affected their performance. They weren’t synchronized at all. Orders were being done wrong which earned them a rant from Pidge every 30 minutes. There was even a time when Shiro spilled a cup of coffee on a customer who was ordering over the bar. That didn’t end pretty well. All these hiccups happened in a span of three weeks and it was pretty obvious that Allura had had enough. Allura announced a staff meeting on Friday night and Shiro knew it could only mean trouble for him.

  
  


They closed down the shop, and they were all seated except for Allura who had gone into serious mode for the first time since Shiro started working at Altea. She looked like that snappy teacher you had in high school who hated kids and made your life miserable the entire year. Shiro knew Allura wasn’t that kind of person, but he didn’t expect that things were this bad for her to show this kind of aura.

Pidge sat on a table in front of Allura, while Lance and Hunk were on Pidge’s right. Shiro sat down at the table to the left of Pidge. He scanned the cafe to see where Keith was. He was at the back with his arms crossed. He obviously didn’t like to be here but he had no choice. Shiro frowned and looked to Allura.

“I think we all know why we are having this meeting tonight.” Allura started,  placing her cup of tea down on the bar counter. She walked in front of her employees and looked at everyone. “Everyone’s performance has been rubbish for the past three weeks and I have had enough. Would anyone be so kind to explain to me what happened?”

Shiro shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He looked around and no one seemed like they wanted to answer. He was going to speak up and say it was his fault although he wasn’t exactly sure how to explain it when Allura spoke again.

“At this rate, we might as well forget about joining the town competition.”

Everyone gasped. With the little time he’d been with the cafe, Shiro knew Allura would be the last person to give up on anything. She wanted to join this competition for the cafe to grow. Shiro knew all too well why they weren’t performing well. It was because Keith hated him. It was because he had to lie instead of just coming out with the truth. In Shiro’s defense, though, the truth had already hurt him before.

“If you look at it, this is just a new team. If there’s anything that we need to focus on, I think it’s getting to know one another and build up the teamwork.” Shiro started.

Hunk raised his hand, “I agree. I mean, we all saw what we’re capable of achieving when Shiro came in on his first week. We were amazing!!”

“So what happened that made you guys all flop like dead fishes?” Allura questioned.

“I guess it goes back to what Shiro said, teamwork,” Lance answered. “Trust isn’t something that can be built overnight. Or in our case a week.”

Keith scoffed from the back and whispered but still very audible for everyone, “Like you’d know.”

“Ex-cuse me?” Lance stood from his seat and faced Keith.

“Sit down, Lance.” Allura intervened before things heated up more. “Do you have something to say, Keith?”

“I just don’t see the problem everyone is saying,” Keith said.

This took Shiro and everyone in the room by surprise. Shiro saw Pidge, who had been quiet this whole time, trying to keep her cool but he sensed that she was gonna blow any minute. Things were as bad as they were now with the tension between Lance and Keith, it would definitely get worse if Pidge joined in.

“Keith, I think you’re in denial. The first step in solving a problem is recognizing that there is one. We haven’t been performing well.”

“Oh, I’m in denial?” Keith retorted back at him. For some reason, Shiro felt there was more to this statement than what Keith led on.

“Yes, you are.” Pidge joined in. She stood up and walked in front of Keith. “How dare you act like you haven’t done anything wrong in the past few weeks?”

“Everyone makes mistakes, Pidge.”

Pidge was shaking now. She kicked the leg of the chair that Keith was sitting on. “You’re such a jerk right now, you know!”

“Could you lay off me?” Keith was getting irritated now and everyone didn’t know how to stop both of them. “It’s not like we’re making crappy coffee!”

“I won’t be surprised if you start making me serve crappy coffee to customers next week! That’s how bad you have been, Keith.” Pidge pointed to Shiro now too. “That’s how crappy you and Shiro have both been behind the bar!”

Keith didn’t have an answer to shout back and Shiro was too guilty to say anything.

Pidge continued on, “Do you both know how many drinks you guys spilled in three weeks? 67! We had to keep a mop and a bucket of water with you guys behind the bar because we knew you were going to spill something again.”

“Now that you mentioned it, Keith, you had a couple of broken coffee cups too,” Allura added.

“So, you’re blaming it all on me now?”

“Well, the cups didn’t break themselves didn’t they?” Lance teased.

“Babe.” Hunk tried to stop his boyfriend from adding fuel to the fire.

“What do you do here again, Lance?” Keith said it before he could stop himself. Shiro saw how angry Keith was and it was breaking his heart.

“That’s enough!” Shiro stood up. “Everyone, let’s try to keep a cool head here. We’re a team! We’re not supposed to be up against each other’s throats!”

Pidge went back to her table and sat down. Lance was obviously very upset by what Keith said. Hunk held both his hands and rubbed them together to calm him down. Nobody spoke while he did this. Lance looked up to Hunk with a smile that said “ _I’m okay now, thanks, love_.”

Shiro envied the couple. They were just so free with their feelings. He badly wished to be as free as them. He looked at Keith who was also upset. He wanted to hug him and make things better for him.

_But how?_

“Keith...” Hunk stayed in his seat but faced Keith. “Lance helps me a lot in the kitchen. All of you may not see it but the kitchen isn’t a place that only one man can hold. Much like with you and Shiro behind the bar. Can you imagine yourself whipping up 3 orders of aglio olio tuna and then 2 orders of carbonara and then still have to make sandwiches?”

“No.”

“Exactly. So, please, apologize to Lance because he’s doing his part right.” Hunk placed his hand on Lance’s right leg.

“I’m sorry.”

Lance scoffed but Hunk gave him a look to stop it with the teasing. “Forgiven.”

“Thank you,” Hunk said.

Shiro smiled. Everyone seemed to have calmed down a bit ---still pretty hostile, but calmer than earlier. Pidge spoke before he could praise the team for the effort.

“No one is blaming you, Keith.” Her back was facing Keith and her head hung low. “We just want to know what the problem is, so we can help fix this.”

At the corner of his eye, Shiro saw Keith look at him. He didn’t have the heart to meet his gaze. He just looked at Pidge and pretended not to notice. Keith turned away and said, “I just have things on my mind.”

Allura seems to like the openness happening with the team and joined in. “Like what? Do you want to to talk about it?”

“Not really,” Keith answered with no second thought.

“Can we help at all?” Allura tried again.

Keith heaved a big sigh. “I just need time to think some things out.” He looked at everyone and then at Shiro. “I might need some time off.”

“No!!!” Everyone in the room said in unison.

“You guys already think I’m causing problems for the shop. I’m not exactly at my best right now. I’m only going to give you further problems if I… don’t sort myself out.” He looked at Shiro again then quickly averted his gaze. “I’m not quitting or anything. I just…”

“You’re not the only one causing problems here. We’re partners - that means we’re both at fault for causing the shop problems.” Shiro couldn’t believe that Keith would think of quitting or stopping being a barista. This guy lives for the smell of coffee beans in the morning! _How can he just stop like that?_ “Don’t take all the blame yourself.”

“Is there something between you guys that we don’t know? Did you guys have a fight or something?” Lance innocently asked.

This earned him murderous looks from Keith and Shiro. Hunk who seems to have a vague idea from day 1 with what happened, put a hand on his boyfriend’s mouth. “You’re going to get yourself killed, buddy. Just shut it.”

Lance pulled Hunk’s hand off his mouth and looked up to him. “Isn’t this a bit kin-” Before he could even finished, Hunk placed his hand on his mouth again not even caring if Lance was going to suffocate. (Kidding, he loosened his grip after 5 seconds but still tight enough that Lance couldn’t speak.)

While Lance was muffling out apologies to his boyfriend, everyone felt the room become a little bit lighter. Shiro looked at Keith who was not meeting his gaze. He moved to step closer to him but stopped himself mid-step.

_What am I going to say to him? What can I say to him? I might mess things up completely._

He looked at Allura who seems to be thinking of a way to fix this. After a while, she clapped her hands and said, “I’ve got it!” Everyone looked at her waiting for her big idea. “Keith, I’ll let you take a break-”

“What?” Shiro reacted. He couldn’t believe this. How will Keith leaving fix the issue?

Allura raised a finger to Shiro to shut him up. “On one condition.”

Keith looked at Allura suspiciously, “What’s that?”

“I need you to run some errands for the shop this weekend. Coran can’t do it because of his back so I’m counting on you to do this. There’s going to be a big delivery of silverware tomorrow and you need to get the coffee beans from the farm because their delivery truck got busted.”

“Sure. That’s it?”

“Yes. I need you and Shiro to get here before 10am tomorrow for the silverware. You need to clean those up and place them into vintage cabinet. Which reminds me, Hunk and Shiro, I need you boys to bring out the cabinet from the back and move it to that wall.”

“Wait, slow down, Allura! What are you saying Shiro needs to be here tomorrow too?”

“I mean exactly that.”

Shiro saw this opportunity of being alone with Keith to fix whatever happened with their relationship and was ready to take it. “I don’t mind helping.”

“You!” Keith pointed at him with a death glare, “Shut it.”

“That’s my condition, Keith,” Allura said. “Only then you can take a break.”

Keith looked like he was giving this a lot of consideration. Shiro felt like Keith didn’t want to spend time with him. Sure, Keith kept avoiding him for three weeks, but this just took the cherry on top. Keith was probably thinking, a weekend with Shiro was a good sacrifice if that meant he could have a break from him for an indefinite time. Shiro bit his lip to fight back a tear. It wasn’t every day that he liked someone this much. Hell, this could be the first time he fell so hard for a guy that it literally made him miserable.

“Come on, Keith. It’s just a weekend.” Shiro added barely audible to the others, “And then you’ll be rid off me.”

“It’s settled then!” Allura said cheerfully. “Keith, here are the keys for tomorrow. I’ll leave the paperwork for the delivery at my office.”

“Are we done?” Keith asked.

“Yes, I think we are. Unless you want to help with the closet?”

“I’m tired. I’m heading off.” Keith stood up and walked out from everyone.

 

 

There was a moment of silence and Shiro could swear the others must have heard him shattering inside because they all went to him.

“Come on, buddy. Let’s get that closet so we can close up shop.” Hunk said with a hand on his shoulder.

“I’ll help you guys!” Lance invited himself most probably because he didn’t want Hunk to be all alone with Shiro. #PossessiveBoyfriend

Shiro didn’t really care. He went to the back with Lance and Hunk.

Pidge walked to Allura while she finished her tea by the counter. “The coffee beans were delivered to us earlier today. What are they picking up on Sunday?”

Allura only looked at her with a knowing smile. “Oh, that would be up to them. Otherwise, a two-hour drive to the farm would be a waste.”

“Is this a good idea?”

“It’s worth a shot. Truth is, it’s up to them if they want to sort whatever is happening or just keep running away from each other.”

“And you think this weekend together is what they need?” Pidge leaned her head over the counter while looking at Allura for an answer.

Allura giggled, “Have you seen those two? They could barely keep their eyes off the other!”

Pidge giggled now too, “You’re telling me! If I had to see them steal glances one more time, I’m going to puke.”

  
  


Shiro, Hunk and Lance all stared at the enormous vintage cabinet they were supposedly going to bring to the front.

“Is that even going to fit through the door?” Hunk was spreading his arms as if to measure the width of the door to the closet.

“It looks like it's going to fit but it’s not going to be easy with just us three,” Lance said. “Damn, why did Keith have to go home so early! We’re all tired here.”

“Let it go, Lance.” Hunk gave his boyfriend a quick peck on the cheek to calm him down and to give him an extra boost of energy. Shiro once again felt envious of the couple in front of him.

“It’s my fault. I may have overstepped my boundaries with him.” Shiro admitted.

Lance and Hunk just stared. Shiro thought maybe opening up to these guys was a bad idea but it was too late to turn back now.

“Shiro, you like Keith, right?” Lance said. It wasn’t a question. It was more like Lance stating a fact he knew from day one.

“Y-you know?” Shiro stuttered.

“Well, it’s pretty obvious.” Hunk seconded his beau.

Shiro kept quiet analyzing all the conditions in his head. If everyone in the cafe knew about his feelings, it wouldn’t be surprising that Keith might know too and was actually already disgusted with him. Then it hit him.

“Lance, if you knew then why the hell did you tease Keith and I from weeks ago!” Shiro raised his voice more than necessary.

“What? I don’t know what you mean?” Lance did a quick step back just to be sure he was off Shiro’s punching range. “I tease Keith a lot, you know!”

“Shiro, I don’t think it’s fair to blame Lance on this.” Hunk said.

“Y-yeah! Wait, did I do something bad, babe?”

Shiro sighed so loud he sat down on the floor. “No, you didn’t, Lance. Hunk’s right. This is my fault.” Shiro looked up to both of them and gave them a sad smile. He run his hand through his bangs and looked up to the ceiling. “I just… don’t know what to do.”

Hunk sat down next to Shiro and looked up to the ceiling too as if they were watching a really good show. “It’s never easy and it feels hella scary. I know how you feel, buddy.” Shiro looked at Hunk who was also looking back at him.. “I was the one who confessed to Lance.”

“Ohhh, I remember it like it was just yesterday!” Lance said while sitting behind Hunk and giving him a tight hug.

“I would have imagined Lance to be the one to confess and be all up on you, Hunk. I’m.. surprised,” Shiro said honestly.

Hunk laughed as the comment seemed to have struck a nerve with Lance. “Well sorry for not living up to your expectations, Mr. Big Shot!”

Hunk squeezed Lance’s nose. “That wasn’t our case. This doofus here didn’t realize he had feelings for me until I told him. Back then, I decided that I would tell him and pour my heart out then move on. You know, that old get it all out of system routine they tell you to move from someone.”

“What did you do then?” Shiro faced and asked Lance.

Lance tightened his grip from Hunk’s back. Hunk held Lance’s hands as if reassuring him he wasn’t going anywhere. “I didn’t really know what to do back then. I laughed off his confession and we kinda got into a fight. Then, he said he was leaving and that was a reality check for me. He was in front of the door crying his eyes out. Then, I guess, unconsciously, seeing him leave, I knew deep within me that I didn’t want that to happen.” Lance hid his face on Hunk’s back.

“There there, babe.” Hunk faced Lance and hugged him tightly. He then spoke to Shiro who was obviously wanting to hear the ending of the story. “Let’s just say Lance didn’t let me leave that night.”

“Of course! I won’t ever let you leave my life!” Lance said in a muffled voice. He was still hiding his face on Hunk’s chest but Shiro was pretty sure he was tearing up just by the thought of losing Hunk.

That was when Hunk and Lance’s relationship finally made sense to Shiro. He now understood why Lance acts the way he does towards Hunk. He now saw where Hunk’s love comes from. Lance almost made the mistake of losing Hunk and he was making sure he didn’t do it ever again. And Hunk, this big sweet guy just loved Lance so much.

“Wow, I really envy you guys.”

Lance seems to have collected himself and was released from Hunk’s bear hug. “Wait, now I remember!”

“What?” Shiro asked.

“Why did you say you didn’t swing with guys if you liked Keith?” Lance asked with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

“I… I thought he was straight and would never go for me.” Shiro looked down ashamed.

Hunk rubbed his chin, “Well, I haven’t heard of Keith having a boyfriend before but he never had a girlfriend either.”

“That’s because coffee making is the only thing in his head!” Lance said a matter-of-factly.

“I just feel like Keith has been acting nice to me that’s why he tolerated me and how I acted with him.” Shiro stood up. “Anyways, we should try moving the cabinet before it gets too late.” He knew the sad truth about his feelings for Keith. It was never going to be mutual.

Hunk and Lance both stood up but before they got into position, Hunk placed a hand on Shiro’s shoulder. Shiro looked at him confused.

“Tell me, with the little time you got to know Keith, do you think he’s the type of person to tolerate something he doesn’t like?”

Shiro’s face must have lit up because Hunk smiled as if he was sure that Shiro found the answer to his worries.

“No, he won’t tolerate shit.”

“Then you have your answer.”

Shiro’s heart ached at how nice Hunk and Lance was being to him. He needed to make sure to make it up to them somehow next time.

 

 

 

They all took position and lifted the cabinet. They were able to get it out the door but now there was sharp turn to get it through to the front. Allura and Pidge held the last door open. Shiro was in front, Hunk handling the middle and Lance was at the back. They looked a bit stuck and Lance was shouting orders like move a bit to the left just to make the cabinet fit.

“I’m stuck!!” Hunk shouted in pain.

“Babe, you need to pivot! PIVOOOTTTTT!!!!!”

Everyone just stopped and put the cabinet down leaving Lance the only one holding it up.

“Hey! What’s the holdup?” Lance shouted from the back.

“Did you just quote Ross from _Friends_?” Pidge squinted her eyes at Lance from the little space that the cabinet allowed them from the front of the store.

“Ugh. You do know it doesn’t work when you explain it?” Lance shouted again.  
“Try it again and you’ll be lifting this cabinet alone.”

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was kinda hard for me to continue this one because Shiro was stupid enough to say 'I don't swing that way' at the end of ch2 but I finally finished it! I'm excited to write the next one just because I just know that it's going to be filled with so much sheith I might not be able to contain myself. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this one. I particularly like how Hance was portrayed ... I imagine Lance to be really desperate of Hunk cos he almost lost him once and he can't bare the thought of it again. He's just that in love!


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